A couple of months ago, I wrote a piece about why Netflix buying out Warner Bros. might not be so bad. At the time, it seemed fair to give my totally non-insider perspective on the deal. After all, Netflix and Warner Bros. already had a handshake agreement. Heck, Netflix themselves already put out a press release stating they were buying Warner Bros!

But it looks like I, Netflix and most people were counting their Warner Bros. chickens before they hatched. While Netflix was already bragging about their purchase, Paramount Skydance decided to ruin it all. Paramount Skydance then went on the warpath, enacting a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. In the end, after some wheeling and dealing (and lawsuits), Paramount Skydance’s hostile takeover bid worked. So, while there are still contracts to be signed, fine print to be printed and Paramount Skydance having to pay Netflix a cool $2.8 billion to scuttle the deal, Paramount Skydance is now the proud (?) owner of Warner Bros. and everything under its banner. Yay?

Now, as I mentioned earlier, I am not an entertainment industry insider. I’m like most of you reading out there. I form my opinions based on what I know and feel. And, in all honesty, I feel this isn’t going to be good for so many reasons. For one, Paramount Skydance simply paid too much for Warner Bros. I can’t even fault Warner Bros. for taking the deal since they are paying more than what their stock is currently worth. Heck, Netflix is getting out of this like a bandit as they’re getting $2.8 billion for not buying Warner Bros. Imagine that.

However, as a consumer of media, I don’t care about which company gets richer. I believe Paramount Skydance’s “hostile takeover” of Warner Bros. doesn’t seem like it’s going to be good for us “normal” people who watch their products. If I’m being blunt, Paramount and Skydance’s movies and TV shows are rather, shall we say, third stringers in the grand scheme of things. Sure, they’ll come out with a banger like Top Gun: Maverick once in a while. They also have the entire Mission: Impossible franchise in their catalog. But I’ve never seen them as on the same level of Warner Bros’ library. I mean, Harry Potter, anyone?

Still, I was more on board with Netflix purchasing Warner Bros. as Netflix were more focused on the streaming side of things. Yes, I understood there was a danger of Netflix ordering Warner Bros. to quickly pump out content for Netflix and HBO Max and forego theater releases. But I honestly didn’t think Netflix would have done that as it would have been dumb for them to do that, at least so soon. Movie tickets sales can still earn them a pretty penny as long as they stay smart with what to put out.

I also believed Netflix would still keep Warner Bros. as more like a separate entity. They wouldn’t be calling themselves Netflix Warner Bros. or some amalgamation of that sort. No, they would be under one banner but different still. I can’t see Paramount Skydance doing that, especially with how much they paid for Warner Bros. I just have the sinking feeling Paramount Skydance will be leeching off as much as they can from Warner. Bros.

But my biggest fear is that Paramount will try to claim all of Warner Bros’ IPs. From Harry Potter to DC, Paramount Skydance will try to put their own people into Warner Bros. leadership, whether they deserve it or not. I’m kind of dreading the near future when, out of the blue, we’ll get the news that James Gunn, who’s still the head of DC Studios, will now have to report to the nephew of one of Paramount or Skydance’s board of directors. They’ll justify it because “little Tommy has been reading comics since he was twelve.” When confronted that “little Tommy” has never written a screenplay or knows anything about the movie industry, they’ll just shrug and say he’ll learn as they go. I know. This is a hyperbolic hypothetical… but I bet you wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in the future.

Now, I’ve been talking about a lot of gloom and doom about the deal. But there has to be a bright side to this, right? There has to be something good to come out of it all. Well, there is only one thing I can really think of. And maybe some of you won’t like it. But the only real silver lining to Paramount Skydance buying out Warner Bros. is the chance they might get rid of Paramount+.

As with its parent company, I’ve always seen Paramount+ as one of the B-tier streaming services. They don’t really have anything original on it that does seem to warrant getting a subscription. Okay, they have South Park and they’ll eventually have the next chapter in the Avatar animated series exclusive on it in the future. But that’s about it. And don’t say the new Star Trek shows are good because even Strange New Worlds doesn’t hold a candle to the older Star Trek shows! There’s nothing on it that really warrants paying a monthly fee to access them.

And that’s even if you can access Paramount+! The service isn’t even available here in the Philippines! Okay, it kind of is through BlastTV. But it’s not even updated content! I can watch the first season of Elsbeth there… even though the show is already on its third season! So, even if I wanted to subscribe to it (which I don’t), I can’t even do that!

Finally, and the biggest reason why I have an inkling Paramount+ will shutter once the Warner Bros. deal goes through, is because Paramount and Skydance will be transferring all of its content over to HBO Max. One of the ways Paramount Skydance got their deal with Warner Bros. to go through is by claiming Netflix would have a monopoly on streaming if they did acquire Warner Bros and, in turn, HBO Max. Well, guess what Paramount+ is? A subscription streaming service like HBO Max! It would be hypocritical of Paramount Skydance to claim Netflix would have a monopoly on streaming if they get HBO Max while you have your own streaming service, wouldn’t it? I know that hasn’t stopped companies before but I don’t think Paramount Skydance actually want the burden of a streaming service. That’s especially true if they want to go global with it.

So, I have a feeling they’ll just end Paramount+ all over the world and say everything will be on HBO Max. Current Paramount+ subscribers will be transferred over to HBO Max. Then Paramount Skydance can now have their programming all over the world with very little hassle.

That is the only bright side I can think of with Paramount Skydance buying Warner Bros. Paramount+ will be no more and no one will miss it because everything will get transferred over to HBO Max. It’s not a lot… but it’s something?

What’s your take on Paramount Skydance buying out Warner Bros? Is this good for consumers or not? Let me know in the comments section below!